The Women’s National Basketball Association has had what can charitably be considered a tortured tenure. In a couple of months the ladies are set to begin their 29th season, which would sound on the surface to be a sign of health and success. Reality however is something that has long been a challenge with the WNBA, and it appears to be something the current players also struggle to grasp. 

Since joining the league as a rookie last season, Angel Reese has made it her goal to be a firebrand of controversy and waging battle with the blazing-hot arrival of Caitlin Clark. It has proven to be a successful effort as she has parlayed this approach into notoriety and endorsements, including a lucrative deal with McDonald's.

But Ms. Reese also has an inflated sense of player power as she looks at the deals being set up with the WNBA. There is a looming new collective bargaining agreement between the players and the league, and Reese seems to think that she and her union have the cards to negotiate. It is a struggle to see what meaningful consequence they can exactly threaten.

On her podcast “Unapologetically Angel,” she recently discussed the matter with Dijonai Carrington, a team union rep for the WNBA Players Association, and suggested that a player walkout is a distinct possibility.

“I gotta get in the meetings,” said Reese, “because I'm hearing, if y'all don't give us what we want, we sitting out.” Carrington followed that with the comment, “That's a possibility - for real."

What is at issue is that the current CBA was set to carry through to the 2027 season, but last year, the WNBA PA opted out of that deal, making the 2025 season the final one under that agreement. Reese expressed a problem with the next rookie class being paid at current levels and likely standing lower than what rookies will receive the following season, essentially calling for salaries to be raised accordingly across the board. Reese is included, as she is in her initial four-year rookie contract.

What is sparking this conflict is that the WNBA recently struck a new television rights deal, a multi-network deal with ESPN, Amazon, and NBC Sports, one that is expected to greatly increase the annual revenues of the league. This is the big question mark, as revenue has long been a problem. When the league formed in 1996, it was one of two female basketball leagues, but it earned backing from the men’s league and managed to endure with its support.

For its 29 years of existence the WNBA has never shown a profit. Even last year, with the hype and growth in interest earned from the arrival of Caitlin Clark and other new players like Reese, the league still managed to come in with a $50 million deficit. It has existed all this time entirely on the financial support of the NBA, which has basically been paying alimony for three decades.

This means that Reese and the players have no leverage at all. The fact of the matter is the league does not exist based on merit, so any discussion of a “fair wage” would lead to the players needing to pay in order to play. If Reese is threatening that the players might sit out from playing it would actually save the league money. 

This could lead to the WNBA reaching an inflection point. If the new TV rights deal proves lucrative enough to turn a profit, and they're able to compensate players better, this would be the best-case scenario. It would also be the first time in decades for that to become a reality.

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